Hadith Text & Reference

"The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: 'Clean earth is the Wudu' of the Muslim, even if he does not find water for ten years.'"

Source: Sunan an-Nasa'i 322 | The Book of Purification

Scholarly Commentary

This noble hadith establishes the permissibility of tayammum (dry ablution) when water is unavailable or its use would cause harm. The phrase "clean earth" refers to pure soil containing dust, which becomes the purifying agent in absence of water.

The specification "ten years" indicates that no time limit restricts this concession - whether one cannot find water for days, months, or even years, tayammum remains valid for each prayer. This demonstrates Allah's mercy in facilitating worship for His servants under difficult circumstances.

Scholars explain that tayammum serves as a complete substitute for wudu, permitting all acts that require ritual purity. The condition is genuine inability to use water due to absence, illness, or extreme scarcity. The earth, created as a source of purification, becomes a means of spiritual cleanliness when water is inaccessible.

Legal Rulings

Tayammum is performed by striking pure earth with both hands once, then wiping the face and the backs of the hands up to the wrists.

This purification remains valid until either water becomes available, or one of the nullifiers of wudu occurs.

The concession applies equally to minor impurity (requiring wudu) and major impurity (requiring ghusl), though the intention must correspond to the required purification.